Three medical-related programmes in Nigerian universities have been upgraded from Bachelor’s degree to doctoral status.
The upgrade is to align with global best practices for training professionals in the affected fields.
The upgraded programmes are: Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D), Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT), and Doctor of Optometry (O.D Doctor of Optometry).
The National Universities Commission (NUC) announced the upgrade on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 in a statement signed by its Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mrs. Franca Elochi Chukwuonwo.
The NUC disclosed that the duration of the affected programmes has been extended from five to six years to accommodate additional courses and clinical training.
The NUC, however, clarified that the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science (DMLS) programme is not approved in any university in the country.
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On the upgrade, the NUC stated that the decision was driven by the need to incorporate more clinical and practical sessions, improve foundational course coverage, enhance clinical skills, and address all specialty areas comprehensively.
The statement reads: “The National Universities Commission, cognizant of the need to keep abreast with global perspectives on programmes and course delivery in the university education space, had carried out some nomenclature change and upgraded Programmes from Bachelors Degree to Doctor (Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions) Status in Nigerian Universities.
“This quest to upgrade the status of some medical-related programmes from Bachelors Degree to Doctor (Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions) was borne out of the desire to incorporate more clinical/ practical sessions, provide sufficient coverage of foundation courses, improve on clinical skills and cover all specialty areas.
“The trend seeks to also align with global best practices applicable in the training of professionals in these medical related programmes. Furthermore, the certificates obtained from the Nigerian University System can be at par with those obtained in similar programmes from other climes. This will ensure the requisite harmonisation, mutuality and global competitiveness of Nigerian graduates in terms of Certificates evaluation, employability and further studies in the relevant disciplines.”
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